Fruition

Will Landschulz
Am Lit. Per. 2
Mrs. LaMagdeleine

Esther is at another building on the campus of her asylum.  This one is Belsize, the building for patients who are almost ready to leave the asylum as cured citizens.  In fact, after her new and improved shock treatments she is cured, the bell jar lifted into the sky and away.  She goes out to get a diaphragm fitted for her, so that she can decide when to have a baby or not.  This is the first part of Esther's equation, and all she needs is a man who is open to seduction.  But when the deed is done, Esther feels no great life-changing epiphany or pleasure, only pain, and blood.  Lots and lots of blood.  She leaves Irwin, who had both succeeded in getting her to Buddy's "level" and failed at showing her the joys of sex, and goes to Joan, who gets her to a hospital.  Her copious bloodloss is diagnosed as hemorrhages, and she is fixed up by a doctor.  She was keen to "get to know" Irwin partly because of her desire to lose her virginity, which served as the impetus for her selection, but also because he is the sort of person who Esther thinks is perfect for her purposes.  He's smart, with a professorship at 26, experienced in sexual matters (his numerous affairs point this out) and he is someone who has a very low chance of being a continual presence in Esther's life, good for a one night stand before their lives diverge.